VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Magic Dancer, dropping out of stakes company, and Wanna Begone, who has won her last three starts, all for a tag, look like the ones to beat in an allowance race for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles at Hastings Park this Sunday afternoon.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If the California-based juveniles are as good as they seem, Sunray Sprit is the one to beat in Sunday's $100,000, Grade 3 Cowdin Stakes at Belmont Park.
A son of 1995 Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Hennessy, Sunray Spirit comes to New York off a two-length maiden victory at Del Mar in his third career start. His final time of 1:03.10 was the fastest 5 1/2 furlongs of the Del Mar meeting, and he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101, nearly 20 points higher than any of his Cowdin rivals have registered.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It didn't really matter that Saturday in May's turf experiment was put on hold last month. When the allowance race he was entered in was moved from turf to a sloppy main track, Saturday in May ran anyway and won for the second straight time.
The urge to see what this promising colt can do on grass still exists, and so his connections, owner Peter Blum and trainer Mike Stidham, entered Saturday in May in Sunday's Steinlen Stakes, a $50,000-added overnight race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Of the eight horses to have won Grade 1 races for Bobby Frankel this year, Aptitude may be the one that gets the least respect.
Unlike others in his barn such as Flute and Lido Palace, Frankel has to play cheerleader as well as trainer for Aptitude, who a year ago at this time was still eligible for his preliminary allowance condition and had yet to win a dirt race.
ELMONT, N.Y. - For several years, John Terranova's New York barn has been a safe haven for Bob Baffert's West Coast shippers.
Terranova and his wife, Tonja - friends of Baffert since the late 1980's - have housed and helped prepare a number of Baffert's stakes winners including Point Given, Silverbulletday, El Corredor, and River Keen.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Chris Paasch has been in the racing business for 26 years, the last 20 as a licensed trainer. A New York native based in Southern California, Paasch, 45, has seen many talented racehorses, and he thinks he happens to have one in his own barn now.
"This might be a mild statement," said Paasch. "But this is the nicest horse I've ever touched in my life."
ARCADIA, Calif. - It would not feel like autumn without Kona Gold starting as the favorite in the Ancient Title Breeders' Cup Handicap at Santa Anita.
For the fourth consecutive year, Kona Gold will be the public's choice in Saturday's Ancient Title, a vital six-furlong prep to the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Belmont Park on Oct. 27.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - El Soprano, a huge Stronach Stable colt with lots of potential, should be a short price in Saturday's $250,000 Cup and Saucer Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf event for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds at Woodbine.
El Soprano finished third in his debut on the main track behind Rare Friends, who has won all three of his subsequent outings in stakes. Trainer Kevin Attard moved El Soprano to the grass Aug. 25 for a seven-furlong furlong maiden special, in which he closed down the center of the course to win by a neck.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Unlike the four other stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday, the $250,000 Kelso Handicap, a Breeders' Cup Mile prep, is a wide-open race.
With no standouts in the nine-horse field, the Grade 2 Kelso at one mile on the turf brings together an interesting group of horses. Among them are last year's winner, Forbidden Apple; Manndar, who won the Grade 1 Manhattan here last year; and sprint star City Zip, who makes his turf debut.
Forbidden Apple, trained by Christophe Clement, is the probable favorite because of his excellent record of 6 for 10 at Belmont.